Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Tradition

We are a few short hours away from the festivities of trick or treating. The elementary school parade has occurred, the costumes are ready…but the one thing my kids keep asking about is the roasted pumpkin seeds. This is not the “thing” that I thought would become our tradition for Halloween. But, for a holiday that is entirely based around candy…roasted pumpkins seeds are a pretty healthy alternative.

We cut open our pumpkins last night and the boys scooped out the slop. One of my kids has a major gag reflex, and the pumpkin smell and goo usually triggers a powerful reaction. I was busy cutting and hot gluing a Christmas tree costume for my daughter (she and her friends are going as “the holidays”) so I begged him to stop scooping if he felt ill. I was already up to my eyeballs in spilled glitter and silver lame fabric scraps for a future clean up.

They were so disappointed that our three big pumpkins yielded so few seeds because we will definitely finish them all tonight.

I am pre-heating the oven to 375 degrees as I type. I have rinsed my pumpkin seeds and dried them a bit with paper towels. I will stir in some olive oil, salt to taste and a healthy shake of garlic powder. They roast in the oven until the seeds are a golden pale brown color. Parents of trick or treaters always comment on the great smell coming from my house, it’s the garlic!

We eat them all night long. They are gluten-free and really delicious.
Happy Halloween!
Kendall Egan

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